


Hard Talks

by KaytheJay



Series: After the End [17]
Category: Good Omens (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:40:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26646910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaytheJay/pseuds/KaytheJay
Summary: Eden says something that he does not really mean, so Madame Tracy talks to him to help him through his feelings.
Series: After the End [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1869130
Comments: 9
Kudos: 33





	Hard Talks

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came from my wonderfully fantastic girlfriend. Couldn't have asked for someone better ❤️
> 
> Also slight trigger warning on this, Tracy briefly mentions an incident that involved almost drowning.

“I just wanted to thank all of you for coming to Eden’s birthday party,” Aziraphale said. “He’s never had a proper party. I know it means a lot to him that you are all here.”

“Oh alright, angel, enough with the sap. I think Eden is ready for either cake or presents now.” 

“Presents!” Eden said as he rushed over to the small pile of gifts. 

“Hold on just a moment, dear, would you?” Aziraphale said. He stood up and looked around, trying to find the cellular phone that Crowley had gotten for him. The thing had an amazing camera that would be perfect for documenting Eden’s birthday. “Has anyone seen my cellular telephone?” 

“I’ve got it, angel,” Crowley said holding up his own phone. Aziraphale smiled 

“Thank you, dearest.” Aziraphale sat back down and smiled over to Eden. “Whenever you’re ready, my dear.” Eden grabbed the biggest box. It was the thing that Nonna and Papa had brought along with them. Nonna and Papa always got the best gifts of all. He wanted to start with that. It was also the biggest one, which meant that it had to be the best gift. Eden ripped the paper away and gasped. It was a giant car ramp. He’d been asking his parents for one for a long time. 

“Wow!” Eden said. “It’s so cool!” Eden said. 

“What do you say?” Aziraphale asked. 

“Thank you!” Eden said without taking his eyes off of it.” 

“You’re very welcome,” Madame Tracy said.

The rest of the toys that Eden got included a variety of toy cars to go with the ramp. Aziraphale and Crowley had known that Tracy and Shadwell were getting him the ramp, so they’d passed the information on to Anathema and Newton so they could plan their own gifts for Eden accordingly. 

After they had their cake and ice cream, Eden was anxious to get into his toys and start playing with them. Crowley sat down on the floor with him to try and get the car ramp figured out. Luckily, there were only a few different parts that actually needed to be put together. Eden had certainly inherited Crowley’s lack of patience when it came to things he was excited about. 

Aziraphale put out a blanket for the twins to hang out on so that people didn’t have to constantly be holding them. He still didn’t quite like the idea of the twins being on the carpet on their own just yet. They were only four months old. A stray car ended up on the blanket without Eden noticing. Arthur grabbed it and began shaking it and babbling happily. He shoved it in his mouth just in time for Eden to see him do it. 

“Arthur! That’s  _ mine _ !” Eden said. Eden stomped over to the blanket and ripped the toy away from him. Arthur looked up to Eden in surprise before he started crying. Eden simply rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the car. 

“Woah, woah, hey,” Aziraphale said. “Be nice to your brother.” 

“But he  _ stole  _ my new toy and  _ put it in his mouth! _ ” Eden said. 

“He didn’t hurt it,” Aziraphale said. “And if you’re that worried about it, we can go wash it.” Eden shook his head. 

“I wish they’d never been born!” Eden declared. 

“Alright, let’s go calm down, ok?” Crowley said. “We can go to your room and read a book or something, alright?” Eden shook his head. That was his cue for “you’re going to be punished for the moment because you’re causing a ruckus.” It was his birthday party. He should have a free card. He shouldn’t have to follow the rules. Eden handed the car to Aziraphale before taking Crowley by the hand and allowing Crowley to take him to his room. Aziraphale took the offending car to the kitchen and washed it. He set in on the counter on a towel to dry while Eden took a few minutes to calm down. 

“I’ve never seen him react like that,” Anathema said. “Is everything ok?” Aziraphale sighed. 

“I think he’s just gotten over the luster of having babies in the house. They’re getting older and are soon going to start being more bothersome to him. He’s never really had to share with anyone. Not really anyway.” Aziraphale shook his head. “I mean there was Warlock there for a while, but Eden was the younger of the two of them, and Warlock was generally really good about liking to play  _ with  _ Eden.” He shrugged. “He’s a kid. He’s protective over his stuff.” 

“He’s got the older sibling blues,” Tracy said. “It happens a lot. Especially with how far apart in age they are.” 

“I thought you didn’t have children,” Aziraphale said curiously. Tracy smiled. 

“I don’t, but I am the oldest sibling. An oldest sibling with a huge age gap between me and my youngest brother.” She shrugged. “So I grew up watching it happen.” 

“I never knew you had siblings,” Aziraphale said. Tracy shrugged. 

“I don’t talk about them much. Wouldn’t expect you to.” 

***

“Now that we’re alone, can you tell me what exactly went wrong?” Crowley asked calmly. This was something new that Aziraphale was trying to implement. Crowley didn’t see how it was going to work, but he was willing to try it anyway since it was what Aziraphale wanted. 

“Arthur took my new toy and stuck it in his mouth,” Eden said. “That’s what happened. You watched it happen.” Eden crossed his arms. 

“But you said you wish they’d never been born,” Crowley said. He put his hand on Eden’s leg. “That’s not true.” He shook his head. “It isn’t, is it?” 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Eden said. Crowley nodded. According to Aziraphale, the only way to get this to work was by allowing Eden to only say what he wanted to talk about. 

“Do you want to talk to Mom about it?” Eden shook his head. “That’s alright,” Crowley said. “Do you want to talk about something else?” 

“Get rid of the babies,” Eden said. Crowley ran his fingers through Eden’s hair. 

“You and I both know that isn’t going to happen.” 

“Can I talk to Nonna?” Eden asked. Crowley was surprised at the request. Eden was a mama’s boy. Usually if there was something he didn’t want to talk to Crowley about, he would talk to Aziraphale about it. He had never requested to talk to Tracy before. 

Eden knew that his parents liked the babies too much. He knew that nothing he said would ever encourage them to get rid of the babies. He wanted to talk to someone who wasn’t quite so biased in the babies’ favor. 

Crowley got up from the bed and left the room. It was quiet for a few seconds before Eden heard tapping on his door. 

“Eden? Can I come in?” It was Nonna. 

“Yeah,” Eden said. Tracy opened the door and walked across the room. She sat down beside Eden. 

“What’s all this about?” Eden stayed quiet. “Oh come on, you asked to speak with me and now you don’t want to talk?” She started rubbing his back. “It’s alright. I can keep everything to myself. I won’t tell your parents anything.” 

“I don’t want to be a big brother anymore.” Eden shook his head. “I don’t want them anymore.” Tracy stayed quiet hoping that Eden would continue. “Mama would think I’m a bad person.” Eden leaned into Tracy and she wrapped her arm around him. He felt tears burning the backs of his eyes. “Am I a bad person, Nonna?” 

“No, you’re not a bad person,” Tracy said. “Not at all. Your mama wouldn’t think so either, I’m sure of it.” Tracy squeezed Eden. “Do you want to tell me why you don’t want to be a big brother anymore? You were so excited about the twins when they first came around. What happened?” 

“They take up so much of Mama and Daddy’s time,” Eden said. “It feels like Mama and Daddy don’t love me anymore. They just like the twins now. They never make time for me anymore.” 

“So this isn’t about the toy,” Tracy said, though she’d suspected that was the case anyway. 

“I-” Eden shook his head. “No.” Tracy smiled. 

“Can I tell you a story?” Eden shrugged. He wasn’t sure what good a story would do, but Nonna’s stories were always good. Tracy took that as a yes. “I have seven younger siblings,” Trace said. “Did you know that?” Eden shook his head. Tracy smiled. “Well, I do.

“Anyway, when I was younger, I used to have to be in charge of my siblings sometimes. My father was always at work, and my mother had lots of gatherings with her friends that children weren’t invited to. Since I was the oldest, I would have to watch the children when they weren’t around.

“One day, I got into a big fight with my sister Mary. She was always the one I had the most trouble with. On this particular day, I was having trouble getting Mary to help me with the chores our mother had said she wanted done. Mary had decided that she didn’t have to listen to me anymore. I told her I wished she’d never been born. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. I  _ thought  _ I was speaking the truth.” 

“Siblings suck,” Eden agreed. 

“A few minutes later, our brother George came running into the house crying like no other. He tried to tell me what was going on but I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. After a few moments, I was able to piece it together. Mary had gone into the pond. She’d gone underwater and she hadn’t come up for a long time. I ran outside and into the pond with my clothes on. I wasn’t the strongest swimmer, but I was the oldest. 

“Somehow, I was able to get Mary pulled out of the water. I sent my brother John to go get the neighbor for help. I didn’t know what to do. For the first time, I had to imagine life without my sister. I thought it was too late for her. And it would be all my fault.” Tracy shook her head. 

“Was she ok?” Eden asked. Tracy let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. 

“Yes,” she replied. “Mary was just fine.” Tracy closed her eyes. “How would you feel if something like that happened to Arthur or Agnes?” Tracy asked, getting to the point of the story. 

“Pretty bad, I guess,” Eden said. “I don’t want them to die.” Tracy nodded. 

“It’s alright to be upset with your siblings. Heaven knows how I used to fight with mine. But you would miss them if they were gone.” Tracy hugged Eden. “Babies take up a lot of time, but I know your parents aren’t leaving you out on purpose. Maybe I can talk to them about taking the twins for the day so they can take you out and do whatever you want for a day. Would you like that?” Eden nodded. “How about we go apologize to your brother now and enjoy the rest of your party?” Eden nodded again and stood up. 

“Thank you, Nonna,” Eden said. 

“Any time, dearest,” Tracy replied. 

The two of them stood up and left the room. Eden immediately went to Arthur and kissed him on the head. He whispered a quick apology before kissing Agnes on the head and apologizing to her too. He turned his attention back to his new toys. 

“What did you say to him?” Aziraphale asked. 

“I simply told him a story,” Tracy said. “Though I think it would be a good idea if you left the twins with me for a day and took Eden out on his own.” 

“We’ve been meaning to do that,” Aziraphale said. “We just . . .” Tracy smiled and nodded. 

“I understand. Just keep it in mind. Though I think you should do it soon. Eden feels like you don’t love him anymore.” Aziraphale looked over to Crowley, fear written all over his face. This was the exact thing they’d wanted to avoid. It was here though, so they had to deal with it accordingly. “Don’t tell him I told you that bit, I told him I’d keep it a secret. I just thought that you should know how he’s feeling.” 

“Thank you,” Crowley said. Tracy shrugged. 

“That’s what nonnas are for,” she said. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hits and kudos mean the world to me. Comments fuel me into next week.  
> Find me on Tumblr @justanangelandhisdemon


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